Acer Chromebook Spin 513 13.3 inch Convertible 2-in-1: Review & Unboxing - Pros & Cons! (CP513-1H)

[@MergeDroid]

View on Amazon in your region: amzn.to/42du7ca (my affiliate link) ✨ Find/follow/support the channel: linktr.ee/mergedroid ✨ I should have added that you'll get Google ChromeOS updates through to the AUE (Auto Update Expiry) date of June 2031 on this model. This was updated in September 2023 by Google, previously it had an AUE date of June 2029. AUE date video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gZXIopV5pqaZn5Y Let me know what you think of the Acer 513, especially if you already own one and have a view on the areas of the build quality that I mentioned.

[@MergeDroid]

*January 2022 and the Acer Spin 513 is back down to it's Black Friday 2021 price of £299 at Amazon (link in video description) and the same at John Lewis in the UK. Are you buying? What's the best price in your region? For 99p more John Lewis also have an exclusive blue version, see my Community Post for photos* - kzbin.info/door/y6uhB74QEbNJJKt3z-cW_wcommunity?lb=Ugkx48ff2O9EiZ-LMPbgSvMCQLFqUZpLUNh1 *The Acer Spin 311 is also on offer, review with details: **kzbin.info/www/bejne/eZSran2Qh9B9gqs*

[@MergeDroid]

*Take £15 off to make it just £284 if you have, or sign up to My John Lewis Rewards + use code MYJL15*

[@MergeDroid]

*Even better, at Currys in the UK add the code CHROME20 to make the Acer Spin 513 just £279 - bargain!*

[@flicka25]

I got one from eBay yesterday lol.And sometimes I think you guys are too harsh.....why all that pushing and pressing. I'm not going to do that lol When I saw the videos on my Nitro 5 they all do the same thing....push down on the keyboard like there's no tomorrow, twist the display....wtf....who the hell would want to do that. I think some of you guys are becoming a bit snobbish lol You want thin and light but expect it to be made of titanium lol

[@MergeDroid]

Hi Jennifer, glad you like it and sorry if I was too harsh. I always want to point out the good and the bad as I see it. For me the loose trackpad was just too much, but I do believe that was more of a manufacturing issue with my particular unit than a standard thing like the other bits I pointed out. Glad you like your Chromebook though and I hope you may check out some of the other content on the channel 👍

[@MergeDroid]

*BLACK FRIDAY DEALS: £298.99 in the UK at Amazon - see video description for UK and US site links It's also just £1 more at John Lewis and Partners, AO, Argos and the like. NOTE- if you buy from John Lewis and you are signed up to My John Lewis Rewards, you can add a Google Nest 2nd Gen. Home Hub for free until 30th November - use code 'BFGOOGLE. If you will consider a grade A refurb you can get the model supporting LTE (so it takes a SIM card) for just £269.32 on ebay from Currys Clearance - search for item 5047190898 and use code LOVED10. In the US the best price looks to be Walmart at $349. Please comment with the best deal in your region, don't include links as your comment won't always post - although it'll show for you (not always allowed by KZbin).* *If you're not sure which Chromebook to go for this Black Friday, see my short list video (which includes this machine and others) here: **kzbin.info/www/bejne/gXjHqoVvnM2afqs* *PAST:* *Up to 25/11/21 - now just £298.99 in the UK at Amazon - see video description for UK and US site links* *Up to 26/11/21 - the Acer Spin 513 is now just £269.10 @ Currys with code '10OFF' on their website*

[@mathieucithi]

Here in France in January 2022 , retails on amazon for 350 euros but the 8gb of ram model. One of my friend bought it and he is very pleased with it...

[@MergeDroid]

Thanks so much for sharing. Imagine quite a nice model at that price with the extra RAM 👍 Are you tempted to get one too?

[@mathieucithi]

@@MergeDroid I'm macbook pro user *nobody's perfect) but always loved using the chrome os eco system ... yes very tempting....

[@MergeDroid]

It's a nice sofa/travel machine that you don't need to worry about too much (esp. if you get a good price on the 4gb RAM version) 😉 👍

[@alanstjohns]

I'm looking at either the 311 model or this 513 . It'll be purchased for my Year 7 (UK) son's schoolwork; a bit of typing essays , watching Oak Academy lessons etc. So, to me - for someone who's not clued up on tech - it boils down to 'a £100 more for full HD display and a slightly larger screen'. Worth it?

[@MergeDroid]

Hi Alan, firstly thanks for checking the channel and subscribing - I'm glad the content is helpful. Your summary is pretty fair. You'll get an extra 1 year of Chrome OS updates on the 513 also. Will you son primarily use the laptop screen or plug into a monitor? That might help with the decision making process. If the build quality bits I pointed out don't look of conern and he will use the laptop screen primarily, I think the Spin 513 would be nicer to work from for longer periods. Have you also considered the Lenovo Flex 5i? kzbin.info/www/bejne/iaSlaWB6m7Orjck I Tweeted an offer on this recently, on ebay there's a Grade B refurb from Currys Clearance (which you'll see is what I purchased in the video) for £250.96 if you apply the voucher code that shows on the ebay page today, search for item number 353709945700.

[@MergeDroid]

Please also see update to the pinned comment - there's a grade A refurb with LTE (the model that can take a Sim card for data) for ~£269 on ebay in the UK.

[@alanstjohns]

@@MergeDroid Just to add, can I ask - any Chromebook with an 'Intel i3' inside will always have a fan in it?

[@MergeDroid]

@@alanstjohns Yes, it would need some cooling. It's a trade off on the power. The machine in this video you're commenting on, the Acer Spin 513 with the Snapdragon chip is fanless as I show. The fans in the Flex 5i (with the Core i3 from my experience and I imagine similar in the Core i5 model) are not on all of the time and I do feel like are a bit less active than when I first reviewed (here - kzbin.info/www/bejne/iaSlaWB6m7Orjck) and since then I have been really impressed with the Pentium Gold performance and very quiet/not very active fans in the HP x360 14c here - kzbin.info/www/bejne/gqXKlIJ5rrJni7s

[@lfcmarkeb7124]

i bought 4 '713 spin' Chromebooks for grandchildren and my father lol.. sadly 2 suffered screen failure, replaced one with a referb item looking to replace other as sadly correct screens seem difficult to obtain some do called replacement screens aren't even touch screen, others aren't stylus compatible. that said i'm a little confused with the being 2 versions of 513 one with the 3x2 screen media Tec and another with 16x9 Snapdragon. ? the media tec 513 looks to be a fan less replacement for the 713 with most of its features .

[@MergeDroid]

Sorry to hear about that fun! This Snapdragon model is also fanless. The MediaTek version (MediaTek Kompanio 1380 processor) is a bit newer, I haven't tried that one. If you want a more premium Chromebook and don't mind something that may be slightly less thin/light (but still not crazy) I think it's worth comparing to the staple offering of the Lenovo Flex 5i, I reviewed a model with the 10th Gen. Intel Core i3 processor, but you'll find very similar 11th Gen. refurbs at decent prices now too: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iaSlaWB6m7Orjck A little bigger/heavier at 14 inches you could also consider the HP x360 14c: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gqXKlIJ5rrJni7s

[@Newriverartist]

Not in the market for that right now but I will be looking into a new computer soon. Mine is wacko. I am an artist and I share my painting demos and studio visits here. So much variety on KZbin. Have a great day!

[@MergeDroid]

Hi Kendall - I hope this video helped a bit. Thanks for checking the channel out and subscribing, really appreciated. Are you thinking a Chromebook is the way you will go in the future? What do you have today PC/Mac? Check out some other options in my playlist here - kzbin.info/aero/PLNSLoCmFMc8qHWiHLk5bPV0Nn6tWkfEJ- Guess you might want something with pen compatibility?

[@Newriverartist]

Not sure what I will get. I have a Mac but I think it is acting strangely these days. Thanks for the options! I just have to have really good graphics.

[@MergeDroid]

Sorry not sure I saw your reply here. Hope all is going well for you and your channel! What tech are you using to edit now?

[@Newriverartist]

No problem. Nothing right now. All I need is the photos icon on my desk top.

[@MergeDroid]

@@Newriverartist Glad it's all good!

[@andrewjohnson1486]

Well, I like the latest variant that has been launched with a Mediatek Kompanio chipset and it has much better features.

[@MergeDroid]

Should be a nice combo!

[@jorgefilipe9106]

Which one of this has the screen with better colors, this one Spin 513, the spin 311, Hp 14c, Asus C433?

[@MergeDroid]

Although not strictly colour, I would rule out the Spin 311 as not FHD, the others you're comparing are. A little subjective but I'd say the ASUS Flip C433 and Acer Spin 513 are both slightly more vibrant than the HP x360 14c, not that that is bad by any means. Reviews of all of these on the channel for anyone else reading. Let me know if this helps?

[@jorgefilipe9106]

@@MergeDroid And the Spin 311. Are the colors comparable with 513?

[@MergeDroid]

@@jorgefilipe9106 Purely for colour replication I'd say similar....but the Spin 513 would have the edge. It's hard to compare fairly as the Spin 513 has a FHD screen and seemed a bit brighter.

[@jorgefilipe9106]

@@MergeDroid which one would you choose? Spin 513 or ASUS 433? Thanks

[@MergeDroid]

@@jorgefilipe9106 "It depends". What do you value more, a 14 inch screen, slightly heavier but with a back lit keyboard (see detail in my review) and Chrome OS updates to June 2026 or the lighter 13.3 inch Acer Spin 513, less connectivity and some concern over build quality and Chrome OS updates to June 2029. I do think the loose track pad shouldn't be a normal thing. Personally, I'd take the ASUS Flip C433 if the price gap reflected the shorter support life. If they are priced in a very similar way I'd be tempted to go to the Spin 513 for the longer life until the AUE date - kzbin.infoCbimPPQm_Ko Also, ASUS Flip C433 review for anyone reading this looking for it - kzbin.info/www/bejne/qWm9pHaFgNOhr7c

[@Oxide53115]

would prob recommend the Acer spin 514 now, its very similiar in price and it has an actuall AMD processor

[@MergeDroid]

Hopefully I'll get to take a look at a Spin 514. Do have one, like it?

[@Oxide53115]

@@MergeDroid yes i sadly have th entry level one with a AMD Athlon Silver and only 32 gigs of storage for the rest i like it. I just use it for youtube and school and some Android games from the playstore

[@MergeDroid]

@semzhou5535 cool, sounds like it does the job! There's also the newer Spin 513 with the MediaTek Kompanio 1380 (MT8195T).

[@cobaltblue5523]

Looks like a solid chromebook cryo 468 chip ? Is that a new snap dragon chip ? How did it compare in speed to the acer spin 311

[@MergeDroid]

Thanks for checking the video and being the first to comment (I don't count my one 😉). I just wanted this Acer Spin 513 Chromebook to be more solid, what did you think of the build quality bits I pointed out, was I being too fussy? With the Snapdragon setup, you might be familiar with the 7c? I've taken this from Acer's website to better explain it - "The Acer Chromebook Spin 513 is powered by the Snapdragon™ 7c compute platform with an 8 nm octa-core Qualcomm® Kryo™ 468 CPU, which provides enhanced multitasking and responsiveness. In addition, the integrated Qualcomm® Adreno™ 618 graphics performance lets users enjoy online games and beautifully streamed video. " Kryo 468 was announced at the end of 2019 (December) as far as I can see. Performance wise, the Acer Spin 514 against the Acer Spin 311 with the MediaTek MT8183 processor - both very capable and fast for 'standard' browsing. I'd probably need some gaming comparisons or benchmarks to say more. As I do mention in the video though I did see occasional glitches with the Spin 513, and the Android app performance that I thought may fly, was good, but didn't blow me away. Maybe they can further improve with software updates, I'm sure Snapdragon powered Chromebooks will become more popular.

[@cobaltblue5523]

@@MergeDroid ok I understand now I wonder if it's the snap dragon 7c 1st generation or snapdragon 7c 2nd generation. The first impression wasn't bad I would definitely throw in some comparison footage or photos of this to the Lenovo flex 5 cause people like myself love to compare in looks and performance. Definitely put in a bench mark to show what the thing is capable of . Some people show bench mark comparison Wich is great so we can see where it stands . I don't really game but I do run a bunch of tabs

[@cobaltblue5523]

@@MergeDroid everything you listed was pretty fair , if there are any issues I'd rather someone be blunt and not dance around it cause that would impact whether I would buy it . And when it stutters try and get some footage of that so we can see how much it does .

[@cobaltblue5523]

@@MergeDroid also I was looking into the ASUS CX-5 , acer spin 713 2021 model and the new lenovo flex 5i 2021 model. If you could do a review of that I would greatly appreciate it

[@MergeDroid]

@@cobaltblue5523 Thanks, appreciate all of that. It's gen. 1 as CPU speed is 2.4GHz. Gen. 2 is the same CPU but at 2.55GHz. I won't be able to do a side by side here with the Flex 5, as I have sent this Acer back. What I'm testing and typing on right now though will get compared directly against the Lenovo Spin 5 and be included in an upcoming video.

[@crimsoncomet564]

How are the speakers?

[@MergeDroid]

Hi David, the speakers are on the bottom so the sound from the Acer Spin 513 Chromebook is "good enough" but not anything special and of course at the expense of the thinner width of the machine with a larger keyboard deck. If you happen to use the 513 in the convertible mode where the keyboard is the base, then the speakers are firing up so improved a bit. Hope this helps. If speaker quality is very important to you I was impressed with the setup on the HP x360 14c: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gqXKlIJ5rrJni7s

[@oliversmith7354]

Sprightly performance with the kompanio SoC and long battery life of ‎11 Hours

[@MergeDroid]

As stated this model has the Snapdragon processor.

[@ellesincountryland]

Can someone tell me is the webcam enough for like skype? Is is clear for recording?

[@MergeDroid]

Hi Elles, certainly good enough for Skype, I'm not sure I'd recommend it for recording though. I was more impressed with the camera on the HP x360 14c, but even then I'm not sure I'd record on it - kzbin.info/www/bejne/gqXKlIJ5rrJni7s

[@ellesincountryland]

@@MergeDroid thank you for your fast answer

[@MergeDroid]

No problem, I hope the channel has some helpful content. Do let us know which Chromebook you go for. Some great deals at the moment for Black Friday - kzbin.info/www/bejne/gXjHqoVvnM2afqs

[@kurroth]

I bought it a few weeks ago on eBay US for $181 (Acer manufacturer refurbished). Seems like a good deal....

[@MergeDroid]

Sounds like a great price. How are you finding it? Build quality OK or are my concerns valid do you think?

[@kurroth]

@@MergeDroid I bought it as a secondary work device and for the price it feels really premium (I would never buy it for the retail ~$400 when I can get an i3 Windows device). I love it as an ultra-book and I can get some light work done using MS Office like apps. So I am not really pushing it to its limits although I have not faced any performance issues. Perhaps the processor is optimized by now. I tried connecting in my 1 tb hard drive which takes a while to read. The screen flex is noticeable indeed and although the AUE of 2029 is reassuring, 4 gigs of RAM seems a bit concerning. Also the lack of micro SD is a major drawback. Thanks for the review!!!

[@MergeDroid]

That all makes sense. Glad the video was of interest /use. Perhaps get a hub for the MicroSD card use when needed? E.g. Something like this - kzbin.info/www/bejne/bYvVeYd_hr9neas

[@kurroth]

@@MergeDroid Thank you!

[@MergeDroid]

No problem. Hope you'll find some of the other channel content of interest too 👍

[@samyotta3569]

Not big reason to send it back

[@MergeDroid]

The track pad alone was enough for me. It's a pretty fundamental part of the machine and was not as it should be on this particular unit. On a Chromebook of this price I'd rather just return it than crack it open, invalidating the warranty, to repair it myself. If you see the video I did recently on the more budget Lenovo 500e 2nd gen, that had a similar problem, but it was cheaper and more practical to work on so I fixed that myself.

[@megatronskneecap]

Yikes.

[@MergeDroid]

Was I too harsh? If it wasn't for the trackpad issue things wouldn't have been so bad here. That is a manufacturing / QA issue, definitely not as it was intended. I've seen it with multiple Chromebooks now from different manufactured, some brand new like this, some refurbished. Fix is usually possible if you're happy opening them up, but when it's new like this just sent it back.

[@megatronskneecap]

@@MergeDroid No you weren't too harsh at all. I'm Yikesing at Acer themselves. I've never found Acer's machines to be good or worth anyone's hard earned money before. I used them back in the XP days and even now, with a friend who has freshly brought a swift 5 the quality is still shocking. I mean the trackpad literally moves like a joystick. I wouldn't like to see what Acer's solution to a haptic trackpad is as that's just going to make the entire machine vibrate like a toothbrush...

[@MergeDroid]

@megatronskneecap for me this was more the exception, their 'Ocean Glass' branded touchpads are decent, despite the odd marketing name as they're not glass, but have a 'glass like feel' (true, very smooth) and are made form ocean bound plastic.... but I guess 'Ocean Plastic touchpad' didn't sound as good 😂

[@megatronskneecap]

@@MergeDroid I've just never ever had a good experience with an Acer machine. For me it's always been Dell or HP. Acer was also responsible for some utterly abysmal Apple PowerBooks back in the day.

[@MergeDroid]

Some great Chromebooks more recently though - kzbin.info/www/bejne/mHrHopevrZmjmtE